I really like how this icy tree in my backyard turned out against the white sky. I thought I would share with you how I made this happen. Because remember… I’m not a great photographer and have an old Canon point and shoot camera… I just know how to do tricks:-)

Here it is straight from the camera. It was raining and turning into ice on the trees. I was fascinated with how white the sky looked. But the photo I took did not capture what it really looked like in person. Mmmm, probably because I didn’t even go outside. This was shot through a very dirty window from upstairs! ha.

First, cropped some of the bottom limbs out of the photo. I then opened Levels and moved the far right Input Levels slider toward the black until the gray was gone from the sky. This turned the entire sky white which I loved, but the tree was still kind of bla.

To make the tree pop. I used the Pioneer Woman’s Define and Sharpen Action. (these actions are free) I could have probably done this well enough by sharpening it myself, but the actions are super easy. I did end up sharpening it a little more to my taste.

I then opened Levels again and clicked on the Set Black Point dropper. I found a light gray part of the tree and hit the dropper on that point, this then made the tree all black and much more dramatic.

I then deleted a branch that was bugging me in the bottom right corner and voila!

I think it looks like a vector image now and would make a great background image for note cards or stationary. Stay tuned to see what I do with it!

***Don’t have Photoshop? Then try the online version here.

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18 Comments

  1. Amy,

    Love the shot!! Great composition. Also loved that you explained how you did all the enhancements. Keep up the great work! I heart faces was a brilliant idea, and I look forward to sharing there each week. Thanks for following our blog. If it ok with you Id like to put a link on our blog to yours?

    Tim

    Timโ€™s last blog post..

  2. I love this tutorial! I am still not as good with Photoshop Elements. It can be tough at times… Still trying though and look forward to trying to make a great sky like this one. Thanks for the tips!

    MommaDJaneโ€™s last blog post..Amy Adele

  3. Oh very cool! One of my resolutions is to learn to do more with photoshop! I’m going to link to this so I can remember for myself! =)

  4. Awesome tut, thanks! I have CS3 but I only know how to use ready-made actions (like PW’s). How lame is that?! I’d love to learn a lot more this year.

    Will play around w/ your tip!

  5. Great help- see if I can do that on my own- Usually I need one of my kids helping me or my sweet daughter in law Heidi.
    Thanks-
    {remember- I grew up when you still took your photos to a special guy in a dark room and waited a week or more to get your photos back :}

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